Revenge
by LilithMyDemon
Summary: Sick of her brother's efforts to control her life, Serenity decides it's time for payback.
1. Chapter 1

Serenity Wheeler was at her best friend's birthday party and she was having the time of her life. She danced, chatted and joked with everyone. She also met a lot of new people. And - like every other teenage girl – she forgot she should be home at 9 p.m. and stayed long after that. It was almost midnight when she found out her mistake.

'That was a nice party, Chris, but I have to go now. My brother will get berserk; I was supposed to be home four hours ago.' she said to her friend.

'Ok, hun, see you at school. And don't let your brother be the boss, you have the right to have fun sometimes.' her friend said.

Serenity giggled, although she knew she would later regret it.

'Try telling that to **him**.' she said.

She said goodbye and, after declining a few offers from boys to escort her home, left. She headed home quickly, afraid her brother would be really pissed off because of her lateness. Luckily, her home wasn't far away, so she reached it in about ten minutes.

She entered quietly. The hallway, kitchen and living room were dark. With some luck, Joey would be out or in his room sleeping …

'Hello, sis.'

… or waiting for her in the dark.

There was a click and the lights were turned on. Serenity exclaimed surprised and a little scared. Her brother's face was stern and his arms were crossed.

'Do you know what time is it?' he asked, seemingly calm.

'Joey, I know I am a little late, but I was really having fun at the party and forgot about the time.' Serenity apologized. She knew her apologies were in vain though.

'Do you know that while you were 'having fun' I was sitting here worried about you? God, Serenity, do you know what went through my head?' Joey asked raising his voice.

'Joey, I'm sorry. I promise I won't let it happen again.' Serenity said quickly, trying to calm her brother down.

'I'll make sure you don't.' he asked.

Something in his tone made Serenity flinch.

'Were there any boys at the party?' he asked suddenly.

Serenity hesitated.

'Well, there were a couple.' she said quietly.

'So, you've been partying with a horde of drunken boys until midnight?' Joey asked.

'Joey, there were only two-three boys there and they weren't drunk.' Serenity retorted.

'That doesn't matter; you're too young for boys.' Joey replied.

'Too young? Joey, I'm seventeen years old. I'll be eighteen this year.' Serenity said, getting angry.

'Look, sis, I'm supposed to take care of you, so when I say you're too young, that means you are, got it? You don't know how dangerous some guys are. And I heard that last week you went out with Kevin Warner.'

'Who told you?' Serenity asked.

'I have my sources.' Joey replied.

Serenity sighed. She knew what this meant. It meant 'I've sent my friends to spy on you.'

'Yes, Kevin and I went out, but nothing happened. We only had one so-called date in which we just talked.' She said.

'Well then, I guess you won't feel bad for never seeing him again.'

This made Serenity angry. Not because of Kevin, she didn't like him at all, but because of the control her brother wanted to have over her life. It wasn't fair, she was almost an adult and she could make decisions on her own. True, she wanted her brother to be beside her, to give her advice and support. But Joey had gone too far. Angry, Serenity stomped to her room.

She lay on her bed; her head was buried in the pillow. She was crying. It was all too much for her – she didn't want anyone, especially her brother, treating her like a baby. She didn't want to see him or his friends every time she went out, she didn't want him calling her every five minutes to ask her where she was and whether there were boys around her, she wanted to live. She had tried to talk with her brother and to tell him that, but all her efforts backfired – Joey thought she was hiding something and his obsession grew even more.

Serenity woke up on the next morning, still in a depressed mood. She went in the kitchen and saw a note lying on the table. It was from Joey. After reading it, Serenity screamed angrily and crumpled the piece of paper. Joey had left for work, taking her keys too, so now she was locked in her own home. She could leave through the windows, but she knew that Joey would call her on the phone regularly to check if she was really home.

Serenity sighed. Tears began to form in her eyes. She felt like a prisoner, like a hostage. She was so angry at her brother, he had betrayed her, he … he had to pay. A plan began to grow in her head. She obeyed her brother's rules so far, but he wasn't satisfied, so what was the point? She would become a rebel; she would no longer do what he told her. No, that wasn't enough; she needed something that would really hurt him. And suddenly, an idea came to her. She smiled, but not like she usually smiled – happily and carefree. Now her smile was evil, almost cruel.

When Joey came back from work in the evening, he found his sister was calm. She had made dinner for both of them. That calmed him down – he was afraid he had gone too far with locking her up.

'How did your day go, Joey?' Serenity asked cheerfully.

'It was ok. And yours?' Joey asked.

'Yeah, it was good – did some housework.' She replied.

They ate in silence, but not the heavy, suffocating silence, but the comfortable silence of a family moment.

'Serenity, I see you have learned your lesson, so I won't lock you up tomorrow, ok? But if you come back late once more, I will not hesitate to do it again. Do you understand?' Joey asked after dinner.

Serenity nodded. Joey got up and went in the living room Serenity stayed in the kitchen to tidy up. The evil, cruel smile appeared on her face again. Luckily for her Joey couldn't see it, or else he would have locked her up for the next month.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm clock rang at 6.00 a.m. Serenity shut it off and got up. She didn't start work early, and she could sleep more, but, according to her plan, she had to speak with her older brother first to prevent her plan from failing. She went in the kitchen and saw her brother was about to head to work.

'Are you going to work, Joey?' she asked, trying to sound sweet and innocent. Of course, she knew very well where he was going.

'Yeah, sis. I'll be back at three.' he replied.

'By the way, I'll be taking a double shift today at work; I need some extra money for school.' Serenity said.

This was the only independence she got. Her brother paid the bills, her school and his college, and she could work to pay for 'the extras' as she called them – clothes, accessories, make-up and other girl stuff. Of course, she had to find a job to get the money she needed. As expected, she couldn't get just any job she wanted; Joey had to give his permission first. She soon found a job as a kitchen worker in a restaurant. Her older brother visited her a couple of times, and after seeing his sister was treated right and no one tried to assault her, he calmed down.

Serenity tried not to laugh. What a fool her brother was! She had left that place two months ago, after she had found a better-paid job. She was now working as a clerk at a store which sold rock and metal albums, black t-shirts and baggy pants, chains and everything else the rebels of society needed. She liked it there; she was a fan of the style herself, even though she didn't dress like that. Of course, Joey didn't know, he still thought she was washing dishes.

She entered the store and saw her colleague Sebastian there.

'Hi!' he greeted her.

'Hi.' she greeted back. 'What do we have for today?' she asked.

'Well… let's see…' he looked at a piece of paper. 'An order of 20 black M-sized T-shirts is supposed to come today. Also the black jeans are over, and we'll have to order some too, they seem to be pretty popular.'

'Good, the day won't be very stressful.' Serenity commented happy. 'By the way, I'll have to leave earlier, hope that's not a problem.' she added.

'Not at all, don't worry.' Sebastian said.

The work day went by quickly. Serenity left an hour early. However, she didn't head home. Instead, she headed in the opposite direction. While she was walking, she discovered she had a few doubts about her plan. What if he didn't agree? He hadn't seen Joey in two years, since they had graduated High school. He might have forgotten her brother by now. Still, Serenity had to at least try; it was her only chance to teach her older brother a lesson.

She reached the Kaiba Corp. building. After a brief hesitation, she entered. The mid-aged woman, who was sitting at a desk near the entrance, told her that Seto Kaiba was at a meeting right now. She proposed Serenity to wait for him, but her expression clearly told the girl that no matter what she wanted, she would soon be thrown out. Serenity pretended she didn't notice that. She thanked the woman politely and went in the elevator. She pressed the top floor button. The elevator stopped a couple of times on various floors, so that other people could come in or get out. Serenity noticed most of them gave her curious looks. She looked at herself. She obviously was out of place here – wearing jean shorts and a dark blue tank top. Finally the elevator stopped at the last floor, where Seto's office was. Serenity decided to wait for him outside, so she sat on one of the leather sofas that were in the hallway. She put her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. She was thinking how exactly to phrase her request to Seto.

After a couple of minutes she heard the elevator stop. She looked at the door, expecting to see the CEO. But the door slid open and revealed his younger brother, Mokuba. He was surprised when he saw Serenity.

'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'I … have to ask your brother for a favor.' She replied. 'But he's in a meeting so I'm waiting for him.' she added.

Mokuba nodded and sat down next to her. Serenity had already noticed that Mokuba had gotten a lot taller. Of course, he wouldn't stay the same for two years, would he? Still, his hair was the same as when she last saw him, and there was still that childish innocence around him which made him look younger.

'So, how have you been these two years?' Mokuba asked.

'Good. A little busy lately, to be honest, have to pick a college and study hard.' Serenity replied.

'And Joey? How is he?'

'Overprotective.' Serenity said.

Mokuba laughed, thinking Serenity was joking.

'And how have you and your brother been, Mokuba?' she asked.

'Well, I've been ok and Seto's been very busy with Kaiba Corp.' he replied. 'We've built 5 more theme parks in Europe – two in England, one in France, in Italy and even one in Russia.'

'I know about this, Mokuba, I watch TV and read the newspapers. I was asking about your personal life.' Serenity said with a small laughter.

'Remember, we're talking about Seto Kaiba, he doesn't have life besides his company.' Mokuba replied, trying to make it sound like a joke, but Serenity noticed the bitterness in his voice.

'So I guess he hasn't changed much, huh?' She asked quietly.

Mokuba nodded.

'I always tell him he should get a girlfriend. He really needs one. Do you know he's 20 and he hasn't had his first kiss yet?'

Serenity didn't have to answer that, because the elevator door slid open again and Seto Kaiba stepped out of the elevator. He stopped seeing his brother and Serenity.

'What are you doing here?' he asked, looking at Serenity.

'I have to talk with you about something.' she said.

He nodded and walked in his office. Serenity and Mokuba followed him. Serenity hadn't been in his office before. It didn't look like what she had expected. She always thought that someone like Seto would have a large, richly furnished office. His office wasn't very large, and it most certainly was not richly furnished. There was a desk with a computer, which stood directly opposite the door, a chair behind the desk, a sofa in one corner, and two filing cabinets. There wasn't a plant or any other decoration; there wasn't even a desk lamp.

'So, what do you want?' Seto asked, sitting on the chair.

Serenity looked at Mokuba nervously.

'Could you leave us alone? It's kinda personal.' she asked.

The boy nodded and headed to the door. Before leaving, he gave Serenity and his brother a mischievous look and winked at them. The girl blushed slightly, remembering his words about Seto needing a girlfriend.

'Well, what is it, Serenity?' Seto asked again.

'Umm… could you pretend you are my boyfriend?' Serenity asked.

His face, usually having an emotionless mask on it, suddenly became a mix of many feelings. There was surprise, or more like shock, confusion and anger. Serenity wondered if he would throw her out. But then Seto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

'What do you mean 'pretend'?' he asked.

'Well, we act like we're together when in fact we aren't.' She explained.

He looked at her, thinking.

'Why?' he finally spoke.

'To punish Joey. He is too overprotective; he wants to control my life and determine who I'll hang out with. I won't accept that. So, I want to punish him somehow...'

'And, naturally, you come here because your brother hates me the most in the world.' he finished somewhat amused.

'What do you say?' Serenity asked quietly.

He looked at her again. Serenity felt uneasy. She felt as if she was in front of an inquisition and was now being judged.

'Ok, let's do it.' Seto said.


	3. Chapter 3

Serenity and Seto were sitting on a bench in the park. Serenity was at the alley. In about 5 minutes Joey would come – he always went through the park; it was the shortest way from his work to his home. So now she and Seto were waiting for him to show him their 'relationship'.

'Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, I could think of something else, you don't have to do it.' she told Seto for about the 100th time.

'Don't worry, I'm sure I want to do it.' he told her.

After a couple of minutes a familiar blond boy appeared. Serenity and Seto moved closer to each other and Serenity wrapped her arms around Seto's neck. She looked in his eyes, thinking this was the craziest thing she had ever done. He leaned down and, as planned, they kissed. Serenity was surprised how good it felt. She had thought she would feel a bit ashamed and uneasy, but instead it felt completely natural. And Seto … he was so passionate … as if he really meant it.

As expected, Serenity heard her brother's choked yelp. Joey ran to the 'couple' and drenched Serenity from Seto's hands.

'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, KAIBA?' he yelled.

Seto smirked.

'What does it look like, Wheeler?' he asked, crossing his arms.

'STAY AWAY FROM SERENITY, GOT THAT? IF YOU EVER COME NEAR HER I SWEAR I… I … I WILL …' he stammered.

'Can't think of anything?' Seto mocked him.

He got up and after giving Serenity a playful wink and a small slap in her butt, he left.

Serenity felt exalted. She had not imagined Seto could act like Casanova. This was perfect!

'Serenity, what were you doing with **him**?' Joey asked.

'What, Joey, we weren't doing anything wrong.' Serenity said innocently.

'Just being around him is wrong!' her brother snapped. 'How did he seduce you? With money?' he asked.

Serenity barely stopped herself from laughing. This was even better than she had imagined. Joey obviously thought everything was Seto's fault, so with some luck she might get out of it unharmed.

'Come on, let's go home. And I don't want to see you near him again.' Joey said, taking her by the hand.

Seto was in his room, lying on his bed. Since he got home, he had thought only about the little scene that had happened in the park. Joey's reaction was completely predicable and yet he couldn't stop chuckling every time he remembered the blonde's stunned face.

But there was something that confused him and even worried him slightly – he had liked the taste of Serenity's sweet lips.

Mokuba entered the room.

'Seto?' he called his brother.

'What is it, Mokuba?'

'Yugi just called. He told me to tell you that Joey told him to stay away form Serenity or he'll kill you.'

Seto chuckled.

'I'll keep that in mind.' he said amused.

'What did Serenity want by the way?' Mokuba asked curiously.

Seto thought about whether he should tell Mokuba the truth. No, he might mention something to Yugi and his friends. It would be best if his little brother didn't know a thing.

'I can't tell you, it's personal.' he said.

The boy grinned. Seto understood what had gone through his head. He sighed. He and Serenity weren't a real couple; they were just pretending to be one. No, he lied. He wasn't pretending to kiss her, he really did it then. Her lips were so sweet. She wore cherry-flavored lip-gloss and cherries were his favorite fruit.

Seto smiled lightly. Maybe it was time for him to have a girlfriend.

Serenity went to her room. She had to listen to her brother's 'I-only-want-you-to-be-safe-and-Kaiba-is-bad-for-you' speech, which lasted for three hours. Serenity giggled quietly so that her brother couldn't hear her. What and idiot he was! Then again, Seto had played his role really well, he really looked convincing. He should receive an Oscar.

Her mobile phone rang. Serenity took it and saw it was Seto – they had exchanged their phone numbers earlier.

'Hi.' she greeted him.

'Was he pissed off?' Seto asked.

'Yup. By the way, you acted very well. You have a talent you know that?' she asked.

He chuckled.

'I've said this billions of times – I'm the best at everything I do.' he told her.

It was Serenity's turn to giggle.

'So, we continue with our plan, right?' she asked.

'Actually, I thought up of something better than coming to pick you up for a date. How do you think Joey will react if spend a couple of night at my place?'

There was a pause.

'Seto Kaiba, you are a genius.' Serenity said.

After arranging everything with Serenity, Seto went to his brother's room. He sensed he would need his brother's help eventually; after all, Mokuba was way better than him when it came to people, feelings and relationships. Of course, that meant he had to tell Mokuba the truth and this meant his little brother would rant about how morally bad Seto had acted when he had agreed to help Serenity.

Seto entered the room and saw Mokuba playing on his computer. He coughed slightly making the boy swivel in his chair to face him.

'Seto?' the boy sounded surprised.

'Mokuba, I have to tell you something.' Seto said. He grabbed another chair and placed it next to his brother's. Then he sat down. 'When Serenity came today in my office, she asked me to help her with something…'

And he told him everything. He told him about his reasons to agree helping her, then about the kiss and his feelings afterwards, and about his newly-devised plan to use this masquerade to show Serenity how good of a boyfriend he could be. Finally he mentioned that he had invited the girl to come to a sleepover for some time. Then he stopped and waited for his brother's response.

'First of all, Seto, how could you…'

'Yes, yes, I know, it was a bad thing, I shouldn't' have done it, I'll burn in hell because of it and so on. But maybe we could use this to make it a good thing, couldn't we?' Seto asked; the hope in his voice was evident. 'Please, help me.' he added quietly.

Mokuba sighed.

'Fine. But you have to promise you will apologize to Joey when everything's over.' he said.

Seto stared at his younger brother. This was the price he had to pay for his brother's help! He had to lower himself and apologize to Wheeler! But after thinking about it, he started to calm down. He needed his brother's help, so he had to obey his condition. Seto sighed in defeat.

'Ok.' he muttered.

'So, when does she arrive?' Mokuba asked.

'I'm supposed to go pick her up in an hour.' Seto replied. 'And she will be sleeping in my room, we're supposed to be a couple after all.' he added.

'Well, for now you have to be nice with her and do the things boyfriends usually do.' Mokuba said.

'Like what?' his brother asked confused.

'Jeez, Seto. Make compliments, be a gentleman, show your affection for her. You know, that stuff? If you haven't done them at least you've heard of them right?' Mokuab said rolling his eyes.

Seto thanked him and went to his room. He didn't understand what his brother meant by showing his affection, but he understood the part about the compliments. He wondered how Serenity would react if he suddenly started complimenting her. She would probably think he was really into his role … or she might catch on his plan and dump him. Seto knew where the problem was – he could only act as a boyfriend whenever her brother was around, which meant she would think it's just acting. Seto sighed. He was determined, no matter what happened, to make Serenity his real girlfriend.


	4. Chapter 4

Of course, Joey wasn't happy to see Seto, when he came to pick up Serenity. In fact, the blonde looked murderous.

'What are you doing here, Rich-boy?' he growled.

'Joey, don't talk like that with **my** Seto!' Serenity said appearing behind him.

She went to Seto and gave him a small hug and a quick kiss on the lips. Seto felt the urge to deepen it, but quickly stopped himself. It wasn't a very good idea, since Joey was standing close-by.

'Are you ready to go?' he asked Serenity.

She nodded and went upstairs to get her stuff. Seto was left alone with Joey. An awkward silence fell between them.

'Break up with my sister!' Joey spoke suddenly.

'What?' Seto asked.

'Break up with Serenity. You're not good for her. I'd rather she date Duke than you.' he spat.

'I will not break up with Serenity!' Seto said angrily.

Joey lunged at him with a raised fist. Seto didn't expect it and he couldn't move completely out of the way, so the blonde brushed the side of his face. Angry, Seto grabbed his arm, twisted it behind the back and pushed Joey to the wall. Joey growled and leapt towards the CEO again, causing both of them to fall on the ground. Each of them was hitting the other everywhere he could reach, knowing perfectly well if he stopped, the other would hit even harder.

'Stop it!' Serenity yelled.

She had come back, carrying a backpack, and saw what was going on. The two boys stopped fighting immediately after they heard her. Seto's lip was bleeding, and his head and back hurt like hell. Joey had a bloody wound above his left eyebrow, and he was rubbing his ribs. Worried, Serenity went to Seto and asked him if he was ok. However, she paid no attention to her older brother. Seto was both happy and sad about this. He was glad that Serenity chose him over Joey, and was worried for him, but he also realized how Joey must feel at that moment, seeing his little sister ignore him.

'Joey, how could you? I know you started the fight!' Serenity scolded her brother. She then turned to Seto. 'Come on; let's go before he does something else.'

She took his hand and he led her to his car. The drive to the mansion was silent. Seto was afraid that Serenity might be mad at him. He had gone pretty far fighting her brother, but Joey made him really mad by asking him to break up with Serenity. How could he break up with the only girl he would ever love!

'Here we are.' he spoke.

He heard Serenity's gasp. Seto always wondered why people found mansions marvelous. They were too big and hollow for his taste. And everywhere he stepped there was at least one servant and he felt his private life, as much as he had one, was being exposed. He lived here only because Mokuba liked the mansion. If it was up to him, he would burn the place down and build himself a simple suburban house with a small garden.

'I should give you a tour; it's easy to get lost on here if you don't know the building.' he told Serenity.

She nodded, seemingly excited, but Seto noticed her thoughts were somewhere else. He had a hunch she was thinking about the fight, but he didn't dare ask. So he just led her around the mansion, showing her every room. He noticed Serenity liked the garden the most. The tour took almost two hours and in the end Serenity and Seto were tired.

'I guess we should end the tour and show you your room.' he said.

'Yeah.' Serenity nodded. 'Where will I be sleeping?' she asked.

'Well …' Seto looked away and blushed lightly. 'I thought it would be best if you slept in … my room. That way no one will suspect a thing.'

Serenity thought about that. Yes, that sounded logical. After all, Mokuba also thought they were a couple and he really might suspect something if they didn't sleep in the same room. Besides, Joey might gather his friends and raid the mansion to take her home. If he did that, it would be good to see her and Seto in the same bed – that would surely piss him off.

'But is it ok with you?' she asked.

'It's for our cause.' he smiled.

Serenity giggled.

'Ok then.' she said.

They went to Seto's bedroom. Serenity had already realized Seto had not shown her his own bedroom. They had passed by the door and he had told her it was his room behind it, but they didn't enter. As Seto opened the door, the girl wondered what his room may look like. To her disappointment, his room wasn't anything special. In fact, it didn't look like anyone was using the room – everything was spotlessly clean and there were no personal possessions that could hint something about the occupant. There were no posters, messy clothes, plants, old toys, music CDs, photos or books. There was just a double bed, a desk with a computer and a chair and two nightstands on both sides of the bed. There were also two doors – apparently one leading to the bathroom, and the other to Seto's closet. Serenity observed the room carefully, feeling a little sad for Seto. She had never imagined his life was so … empty. Was Kaiba Corp. really the only thing in his life?

'You don't look like you like my room.' Seto said.

Serenity flinched. She had caught a hint of sadness or bitterness in his voice.

'Well, to be honest, it doesn't look like **anyone's** room.' she said.

He smiled sadly.

'I know.' he said quietly then turned to leave. 'I'll leave you some time to take a bath and change, ok? Dinner will be ready in a hour.' he said, not looking at her.

'Ok.' Serenity whispered, surprised by his behavior.

She quickly took a shower and dressed herself. Then she went out of the room, wondering where Seto might be. She walked around for a few minutes, and then gave up finding him on her own. She decided to ask Mokuba, he may know where his older brother was. She went to his room and knocked on it. She heard Mokuba's cheerful voice, and entered.

'Hi, Serenity!' the boy exclaimed.

'Hi, Mokuba.' she said.

'Seto says you're spending a few days here. Why?' he asked.

'Umm… I can't tell you, it's between your brother and me.' Sereity replied uncomfortably. 'By the way, do you know where he is? I want to talk with him.'

'He said he'll be in the library. Do you want me to show you the way?' Mokuba proposed.

'No, don't worry, I know the way. Seto gave me a tour.' Serenity said.

'And you remember it? It took me a week to memorize the mansion.' he exclaimed wide-eyed.

Serenity chuckled and, after thanking Mokuba, exited his room. She quickly headed to the library. She had realized how little she knew about Seto, and that could become a problem. Her brother may not notice, but Mokuba and the others weren't fools and they would notice Serenity didn't know anything about her 'boyfriend'. She peeked in the library. She expected to see Seto reading a book, but instead she saw him sitting in an armchair next to the window. He had put his arms on the sill and his chin was resting on his fist. He was gazing out of the window, seemingly in deep thought. But when Serenity entered the room, he immediately turned to her. The girl thought his face looked sad, but she wasn't sure since the light was dim. She also noticed he had cleaned the blood from the fight.

'We need to talk.' She said.

'About what?' Seto asked.

'I guess we will continue with the masquerade for some time, so it will be good both of us to know something about each other. Otherwise what kind of a couple would we be?'

Sseto thought about that.

'That's true.' he admitted. 'But we can't talk here. Could you wait after dinner, when we go to my room?' he added.

'Sure.' Serenity smiled.

The dinner was really quiet; Seto and Serenity were too deep in thought to talk. Mokuba made a few attempts to start a conversation, but soon gave up. When they were finished, Seto and Serenity wished Mokuba a good night and went up to Seto's room. The CEO sat on his bed, and gestured Serenity to sit next him.

'What do you want to know about me?' he asked her bluntly.

'Tell me about yourself, about your childhood, your hobbies, what you like, what makes you happy, things like that.' Serenity replied.

He raised an eyebrow.

'My childhood? Didn't you see enough in Noah's virtual world?' he asked bitterly, obviously the memory of it still hurt him.

'That was only from your childhood with Gozaburo.' Serenity said calmly. 'I would like to know about your life **before** you went to the orphanage.'

Seto looked down.

'I … I don't remember much about it, it was really a long time ago … more than ten years. I don't even remember what my parents looked like. But, whenever I think about it, I get this warm feeling inside me, like I'm thinking about something good. Do you understand?'

'Yes, I do.' Serenity nodded.

'I guess that was one of the little times in my life when I've felt truly happy.' he said then clenched his fists. 'And of course, it couldn't continue like this. Something had to happen to screw everything up!' he added, slightly raising his voice.

Serenity carefully put her hand on his shoulder. She felt he was shivering slightly.

'If it hurts to tell me this, then don't.' she whispered.

'No, it's ok. I think it will be good to take it off my chest.' he said. 'You know what happened after my parents' death. We were sent to the orphanage and a year later Gozaburo adopted us.'

'Why did you have to go to an orphanage? Couldn't you stay by relatives?' Serenity asked.

Seto smirked cruelly and chuckled unhappily.

'Our relatives, our **family**, took the money we were supposed to inherit and sent me and Mokuba to the orphanage so we wouldn't mess up their lives.' he said quietly.

'What? Really?' Serenity gasped.

Seto nodded.

'And so we went to our new home with Gozaburo. Life there was hell, only for me though; luckily Gozabro paid almost no attention to Mokuba, since he was the younger. So I got sick of it and took over his corporation, transformed it into something good and started rebuilding my life.' He paused. 'So that's it – my childhood.' he added.

'You said that life with your real parents was one of the little times you felt truly happy. When were the others?' Serenity asked.

'One was when I was Duel Monsters Champion. I know it may sound weird, but I really enjoy playing the game and I do have talent, so I was happy that my talent was recognized. But, of course, my joy disappeared when **he** defeated me.' Seto almost spat out the word 'he'. 'Then, when I received Obelisk before Battle City, I really believed I could win my title back. I felt truly happy during that tournament, even though Marik and his goons tried to ruin it, knowing that I had a chance to win against Yugi.'

Serenity reached out hesitantly and put her other arm around him. She felt Seto was shivering. She wanted to comfort him. Only now she truly realized how important Duel Monsters was in Seto's life. All he had was his company, his brother and the game. She held him tighter, feeling incredibly sorry for him.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry, this one took a bit long and it's a bit boring, but I'm almost out of ideas on how to continue this story. :( Might put some crappy ending if I don't get any inspiration.

* * *

'Well,' Seto spoke up. 'I told you about me, now it's your turn.'

'Ok, ask me something.' Serenity smiled.

'First, tell me about you, about your character. I remember you as a shy, quiet girl, but now you're … very different.' he said.

Serenity giggled.

'That was two years ago. I've changed for that time. Although I still act shy sometimes, I am more confident now.'

And colder too, Seto thought sadly.

'What did you do after Battle city?' he asked.

'I returned to my mother but a year later she let me move in with Joey. I started going to Domino High and made new friends.' she replied.

'What about your brother's friends?'

'The geek squad?' Serenity asked with a smirk.

Seto couldn't help but laugh.

'You remember that?' he asked.

She nodded.

'Nerd herd sounded better to me.' she said.

'So I guess you're not friends with them anymore?'

'Yes. It was my brother's fault. He always sends them to spy on me, and eventually I drifted away from them.' Serenity replied.

Seto nodded with understanding. That was so typical of Joey, to use his friends as agents and spy on Serenity. He had probably taken advantage of Tristan and Duke's crush on Serenity. Or maybe **they** have taken advantage over the blonde – what could be better for them than stalking the girl with her brother's permission?

'Are you sad about it?' he asked Serenity.

She shrugged.

'Not very much. They weren't really my friends, they were Joey's. They accepted me not because of myself, but because I was his sister.' she said. 'Besides, they were a bit too friendly for my liking.' she added with a smile.

'Oh, God, yeah. That was the most annoying in them right after their fate obsession.' Seto said chuckling. 'Good thing I don't have to listen to their speeches anymore.'

Serenity laughed too.

'Yeah, that was very annoying, wasn't it?'

Seto nodded. He really enjoyed talking with Serenity; he talked very easily with her about his life. He tried moving closer to her without the girl noticing, but he thought she saw him, so he quickly yawned and pretended he was sleepy.

'I think we should go to bed. It's late.' He said.

Serenity glanced at the clock. It showed almost midnight. Usually she would stay up until later, but now she felt tired from everything that had happened. So she nodded. Seto offered to wait in the bathroom while Serenity dressed in her PJs. After she told him she was ready he got out. He also dressed in his PJs. He felt weird in them; it had been a long time since he had worn pajamas. Usually he slept only in his boxers, but he figured Serenity would feel uncomfortable. Both of them crawled under the covers.

'I might hug you during the night; I have a habit of hugging something, usually my pillow, when I sleep.' Serenity said.

Seto smiled, thinking he wouldn't mind.

'Sweet dreams!' he wished.

'Sweet dreams.' Serenity muttered sleepily.

She fell asleep soon, but Seto stayed awake. He watched Serenity sleeping peacefully and smiled lightly to himself. How strange life was! If a few days ago someone told him he and Serenity would sleep in one bed, that person would be thrown out immediately. Also, he had never imagined he would ever fall for Serenity. He always saw her as the shy and quiet girl from Battle city. A lot of people, including Yugi and Mokuba, had thought he hated her because she was Joey's sister. That wasn't true. Seto never judged people by their families. Otherwise he would consider himself a monster, knowing what his step-father was like. He was completely neutral about Serenity; she hadn't done anything to deserve his hatred or his affection. But now…

He put his arm around the girl's body and moved closer to her, holding her tightly. He carefully placed his lips on her cheek, hoping not to wake her up.

'I love you!' he whispered.

Then he fell asleep.

He woke up on the next morning and saw he was alone in his bed. He sat up, wondering whether Serenity really slept in his bed or that had been only a dream. Just then Serenity came from the bathroom – she had taken off her PJs and was dressed in jeans which went to her knees and a light green T-shirt. The color really suited her.

'Morning!' she greeted cheerfully.

Seto smiled. It hadn't been a dream after all.

'Good morning!' he said.

The girl went to his bed and sat down.

'What are we going to do today?' she asked.

'I have to go to Kaiba Corp.' Seto said. 'I'll try to be back as soon as possible.' he added, seeing she looked down with a sad face.

'It's ok, I mean, you shouldn't neglect your company.' Serenity said, playing with the corner of his pillow.

'I'll try to finish early, but I can't promise anything.' he repeated.

'I guess it's pretty tough running you own company.' she said.

Seto nodded.

'It is. Although I'm pretty used to it by now. But when I took over the company, I almost ruined myself – I had to work until sometimes early in the morning, I didn't eat or sleep regularly. Naturally, I got sick after a week or so. Now I'm ok.' he replied.

'But you still work very much.' Serenity said quietly.

'I'm the owner after all.' he replied

'Why do…' she began, but stopped quickly and looked down.

'What?' Seto asked.

Serenity shook her head and didn't say anything. A light blush appeared on her cheeks. Seto was a bit worried. Why didn't she ask what she wanted to? Did she think the question would make him angry? He got up.

'I'll go now.' he said.

'Ok. Have a nice day.' Serenity muttered.

She heard the door closing and understood he had left the room. She knew she had upset him, but her question was too personal to ask. She didn't want to upset him.

She sat on the bed for a couple of minutes and then she decided to go to the library and choose a book to read. The room was empty when she entered. Serenity thought Mokuba was still sleeping. She went to a bookshelf and looked at the books. Most of them were philosophical books, and Serenity noticed that Nietzsche's books looked most worn-out of all. She doubted Mokuba liked the philosopher's ideas, and she was sure the servants entered the library only to dust, which meant that Seto liked reading philosophy books, especially Nietzsche's. _Another piece was added to the Seto puzzle_, she told herself.

Serenity heard footsteps and turned. She smiled, seeing Mokuba standing near her.

'You like Nietzsche?' he asked, noticing the books in her hands.

'His ideas are good.' Serenity said. 'Seto likes him too, doesn't he?' she asked.

The boy nodded.

'He always reads his books, although he knows them all by heart.' he complained.

Serenity giggled.

'So, I guess he left you here and went to Kaiba Corp.?' Mokuba asked.

'Yeah.' the girl said.

Mokuba crossed his arms and shook his head slowly, muttering something Serenity couldn't hear.

'What will you do till he gets back?' he asked.

'Oh, I thought I could read a book. That's why I'm here.' Serenity said.

'Ok, then. I'll be in my room. If you get bored later, we could do something together.' Mokuba said.

Serenity nodded smiling. She searched through he shelves and after five minutes she sat down in the same armchair in which Seto had sat the last night. She opened the book which she had chosen – it was Raymond Chandler's 'The Big Sleep' – and began reading it. She liked reading crime novels, but it seemed neither of the Kaiba brothers did, because the book looked untouched. She wondered why they had bought it, when obviously nobody wanted to read it.

While Serenity was reading, Mokuba was in his room, talking with his older brother on the phone. The boy had called the CEO, scolding him for leaving Serenity alone.

'What kind of boyfriend are you?' he kept asking. 'Get back here immediately!'

'Fine. Besides, I can't work. I keep thinking about Serenity's question.' Seto replied.

'What question?'

'I don't know and that's the problem. She wanted to ask me something but didn't. And I want to know what.' Seto explained.

'Ask her.' Mokuba said like it was the simplest thing to do.

'Will she tell me?' his older brother asked, sounding uncertain.

'Maybe. Now hurry up and come home.'

Twenty minutes later Serenity looked up from her book, startled by a knocking sound. She saw Seto standing in the doorframe.

'You're back!' She exclaimed surprised and somewhat happy.

'Well, there wasn't much work to do.' he lied.

'But … didn't you say that you always had a lot of work.' Serenity said hesitantly.

'Well, not always actually, but pretty often. Today, however, there wasn't much work, thankfully.' he quickly replied.

Serenity smiled. She was glad that Seto was back with her, although she couldn't tell why. She was now used to his company, unlike in Battle city. She remembered how uneasy she would feel every time they were in the same room. It wasn't a crush or anything like that, he just made her feel … lowly. He had succeeded in life, he was smart, and he could have everything he wanted. And she was just some girl that had just got out of a hospital and didn't know what to do, so she just followed her brother and his friends everywhere they went.

It was very strange how they – so different – had found something in common and it had driven them so close together.


	6. Chapter 6

Ok I changed the rating from T to M because of a few swear words. I'm not sure that I had to, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

* * *

To Seto's displeasure Serenity's stay wasn't as long as he had wanted it to be. Later that same day Joey and his friends stormed in the mansion, looking for Serenity. The blonde looked completely mad – he yelled all the time and he couldn't stay still even for a second. He almost got in another fight with Seto; good thing his friends were there to hold him back, if not Joey would have had to deal with the security guards.

Now Seto was lying on his bed, staring unseeingly at the ceiling.

'You did the right thing, bro.' Mokuba said standing beside him.

Seto just sighed heavily in response. He had agreed to let Serenity go home, because – as strangely as it sounded – he didn't want her brother getting hurt. As an older brother, he understood Joey's actions completely, even though he didn't agree with them.

'Cheer up, Seto.' Mokuba spoke up again. 'You'll see her again.'

'Yeah, but I want her to be here with me.' Seto muttered.

'Look, Seto, if she had stayed here Joey would have tried to take her by force which would have resulted in someone – most likely him - getting hurt. So you did the right thing.' the boy repeated.

'Then why do I feel like crap?' the older asked.

'Because love is like that. Love is making sacrifices so that the other would be happy. You knew that Serenity would be sad if her brother got hurt, that's why you let her go home.' Mokuba replied.

Seto sighed again. He knew that sooner or later Serenity would have to go home, but he was really disappointed that nothing happened with her. He had opened up his soul to her, why didn't she like him yet?

'She'll never like me, right?' he asked.

'Don't say that!' Mokuba scolded. 'She looked happy with you. Besides, she came to you first to ask for your help.' he added.

Seto shook his head.

'That doesn't mean anything. She did this because Joey hates me and she knew he would be pissed off seeing her with me.' he retorted.

'He would have been as pissed off seeing her with Duke or Tristan. But she chose you.' Mokuba pointed out.

Seto laughed unhappily.

'If you are trying to say that Serenity likes me you're wrong. She doesn't act like she likes me.' he said.

'Maybe because she hasn't realized it yet.' the younger sibling said.

Seto straightened up a bit. Mokuba saw the hope in his older brother's eyes. It was a desperate look, one which the boy had never seen before.

'Do you really think so?' he asked, so quietly that Mokuba could barely hear him.

He nodded. He saw the light of happiness sparkle in Seto's eyes. Then suddenly it died and Seto lay down on his bed again.

'So what? If she doesn't realize it, it's of no use to me.' he muttered hopelessly.

'That's not true. In fact, this would make things even easier. You know, I think it's time for you to confess everything to her.'

Seto jumped. He looked at his brother shocked. To confess his feelings? He couldn't, it was too early for that! What if Serenity rejected him? What if she thought he was trying to play some nasty trick on her? He couldn't do it, he was afraid of the outcome. At least now they were together, even if they were only pretending. Seto shook his head.

'No.' he said shortly but firmly.

'Big brother, listen, I've just got an idea. Why don't we gather everyone here for dinner? We'll invite Serenity, Joey, Yugi, Tristan, Duke and Tea. You could set things straight then.' Mokuba suggested.

Seto pondered about it. To invite the geek squad for dinner? Serenity had said she wasn't very close with Yugi and his friends anymore, so he didn't understand why they had to be present. Also, he was a bit concerned how Joey would behave. The blond could be distracted by the food for a while, but that wouldn't be enough. No, an evening like this would surely turn into a disaster.

'No, Mokuba, it won't happen.' he finally said and told his younger brother the reasons.

Weeks passed. To Joey's annoyance, Seto and Serenity were still 'together'. Seto noticed that the girl was getting more and more obsessed with the playing. She didn't notice that Seto was too romantic to be just acting – he complimented her, bought her expensive presents and they even went to Paris for a few days. Serenity often came up with ideas on how to hurt her brother more, the nastiest of which was letting Joey to 'catch' them both naked in Serenity's bed. Seto immediately rejected, saying that the blond would kill him in an instant. Mokuba noticed all of this was affecting his brother's mood and health. Seto wasn't the happiest person in the world, but now he really was moody all the time. He yelled at everyone and everything, got into fights with strangers, and fired at least three people each day. He couldn't sleep well at night and was exhausted all the time, which resulted in passing out a few times. Also Mokuba noticed his older brother's eyes were often red and puffy, which meant he had been crying – something which he hadn't done in 15 years.

Finally, neither Seto nor Mokuba could stand it any longer.

'Mokuba, call the geek squad and tell them to be here at 9 p.m.'

Seto had to admit that the evening started out very well. Of course, Joey made a fuss why Serenity and Seto sat so close to each other. Serenity reminded him innocently that she and the CEO were 'a couple'. Seto looked at her. Even though he didn't like the fact that she had turned so cruel, he still loved her and hoped she would turn back into the sweet angel she was when they first met during Battle city.

He leaned down and kissed her. He tried to show her how he truly felt, to gather all of his passion into this kiss. She didn't understand.

'Good job, Joey looks really pissed off.' she whispered to him.

That made him really depressed. Could she really be **that** obsessed? He looked at the table. He never drank alcohol, but he had bought some because of the geek squad. He hated all kinds of alcohol, seeing how it could turn a normal person into a wreck, but now he felt the urge to just drink until he forgot the whole evening. He saw a bottle of red wine and quickly grabbed it. He didn't bother pouring it into his glass; he just drank from the bottle. The geek squad paid no attention to what he was doing. Mokuba noticed and was worried - he knew his brother never drank alcohol, so he could easily get drunk. Serenity also saw Seto didn't talk at all and mostly drank, but she wasn't worried very much. After all, Seto had nothing in common with Yugi and his friends, so he was very likely to be bored out of his head.

Naturally, Seto got drunk. No one, except Mokuba, had noticed because he was just sitting quietly. But Mokuba kept an eye on his brother, afraid that Seto might ruin everything with some drunken stunt.

Some time later Joey got pissed off again.

'What the hell do you see in him? He hated you!' he said loudly pointing at Seto.

Seto chuckled.

'That's not true, doggy.' he said.

He stood up, but couldn't hold his balance, so he grabbed the table to prevent himself from falling. He knocked down his glass and the salt and pepper shaker.

'Seto! Are you ok?' Serenity asked.

'NO! No I am not ok!' he yelled. 'I love you, so why don't you love me? I agreed to act as your boyfriend but now I want to really be your boyfriend. FUCK! I did everything Mokuba told me I had to do, so why don't you love me? And another thing – you changed. Now you are like … me! And that's not good. You were so sweet in Battle city, why did you change? Fuck this!'

He turned his back to them and exited the dining room. Staggering, he headed to his bedroom. He tripped and fell a few times up the stairs, but he paid no attention to it. Finally he entered his room and plopped on the bed. He felt so tired from everything that had happened that he almost immediately fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey, sorry for not the awfully long wait, I just couldn't find my muse. lol After weeks of struggling I finally came up with **this**. Hope you'll like it.

* * *

Seto woke up groggily. The first thing he realized was that the light was too bright and hurt his eyes, the noises from outside and in the mansion –birds singing, servants walking around - were too loud and hurt his ears, and his head hurt like hell. Then he realized another thing – someone was stroking his hair. He slowly turned his head and saw Serenity. She smiled at him, leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Seto immediately noticed the difference. This kiss was tender and passionate.

'Umm… I guess you aren't very angry about last night?' he asked carefully.

'Not at all, you were right. I hadn't realized that I was turning into a monster.' she said quietly. She kissed him again. 'Thank you … for opening my eyes.'

Seto smiled lightly, trying to remember what exactly he had said during his rant.

'Now your brother knows it was all a set up. How did he react by the way?' he asked.

'How do you think?' She asked and giggled.

Seto smiled again, knowing all too well how the blond had reacted.

'After you left us, we talked for a while. Joey, of course, was really furious when he found out we were just pretending. He kept saying that he was disappointed in me and that he had never expected this of me. He also wanted to take me home.' Serenity put her arms on Seto's shoulders to calm him down and prevent him from getting up. 'Don't worry - I'm here, aren't I?' she asked and smiled. 'I realized that you suffered so much this whole time, and yet you continued doing it, just to be with me. That's really sweet. I think you're the one for me. I love you.'

Seto looked away. He was finally hearing those words, and he couldn't' enjoy the moment. His head hurt and he felt he was going to vomit.

'I think I'm sick.' he muttered, rubbing his forehead.

'No, that's just hangover. I'll go get you some aspirin.' Serenity said.

She got off the bed and entered the bathroom. Although Seto rarely felt even slightly unwell, he still kept some medicine in the cabinet in his bathroom. He heard Serenity going through the bottles, searching for the aspirin. A few moments later she returned with a pill in her hand and a glass of water in the other.

'Here.' She gave him the stuff.

'My head still hurts.' Seto complained after a minute.

Serenity giggled.

'It takes some time to work.' She said. Then she smiled playfully. 'But I know a way to rush things up a bit.'

She crawled under the covers, and snuggled closer to him. Seto smiled and rested his forehead on the top of her head. The warmth and softness of her heard soothed his pain miraculously.

'I love you.' he said, stroking her hair. 'You are perfect.'

Serenity looked up and kissed him softly.

'By the way, what did you want to ask me?' Seto asked suddenly.

'What?' she asked confused.

'It was the morning after your first night here. I was telling you about Kaiba Corp. and you started asking me something but stopped before finishing. What was it?'

Serenity looked down.

'Oh, **that**.' she muttered

'What was it?' Seto asked.

'It wasn't anything that important.' Serenity replied quietly.

'Still, I want to hear it.' he insisted.

She remained silent.

'Come on, Serenity, please, tell me. I promise I won't get mad or anything.' he said.

'But you will. I just know it. The question is too personal.' the girl replied.

'Too personal? Serenity, you're my girlfriend. You're the only one who can ask me personal questions.' Seto said.

'Why do you have to work at Kaiba Corp.? I mean, I'm sure you can easily find a well-paid job that isn't so stressing. Why did you choose Kaiba Corp.?' She asked after a long hesitation.

'I… I don't know actually. I don't think I've ever considered this. I guess that after Gozaburo adopted me he put me through hell just to prepare me for being the CEO of the company one day. Guess I didn't want to have suffered in vain.' Seto said slowly. He smiled and kissed Serenity. 'You see? Nothing bad happened.' he said.

'Yeah…' she muttered.

There was a knock on the door and Mokuba entered.

'Good morning!' he greeted. Then he turned to Serenity. 'Joey's here. He says he wants you to go home with him.'

'What? No!' Seto yelled, almost falling out of bed.

Serenity pushed him down on the pillow.

'Don't worry.' She assured him. 'I'm not going anywhere.'


End file.
